History

Background:
Davianna Pomaika'i McGregor is a Professor and founding member of the
Ethnic Studies Department at UH-Manoa. She is a historian of Hawai'i and the
Pacific.

Davianna grew up in the ahupua'a of Kaiwi'ula in the Kapalama district of
O'ahu and spent her summers with grandparents in Waiakea, Hilo, Hawai'i.
She currently resides on O'ahu and Moloka'i. As a member of the Protect
Kaho'olawe 'Ohana she helps to steward the lands of Kaho'olawe -
Kohemalamalama O Kanaloa.

Interests

Research:
Her ongoing research endeavors have focused on documenting the
persistence of traditional Hawaiian cultural customs, beliefs, and practices in
rural Hawaiian communities, including the island of Moloka'i; the districts of
Puna and Ka'u on Hawai'i; Ke'anae-Wailuanui on Maui and Waiahole-Waikane
on O'ahu. This work is featured in her UH Press book, 2007, Na Kua'aina:
Living Hawaiian Culture.

In 2006 she conducted studies which resulted in the following technical
reports:
Hurricane Evacuation Behavior Study for Guam and the Commonwealth of the
Northern Marianas for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers with Jon Matsuoka,
December 31, 2006.

Publications

Recognizing Native Hawaiians: Reality Bites, in Sovereign Acts, edited by Frances Negron-Muntaner, South End Press, 2011 (2011): The academic critique of sovereignty as a viable project in a global economy cannot derail a quest that has been instilled in the hearts and minds of a people for generations. Moreover, the concept of sovereignty envisioned by Na Kanaka 'Oiwi is rooted in the traditional and customary exercise of indigenous sovereignty which evolved over centuries preceding contact and commerce with European, American and Asian nation-states. "Ea"
Type: Chapters in books
ISBN: 9780896097750

Statehood: Catalyst of the Twentieth Century Kanaka 'Oiwi Cultural Renaissance and Sovereignty Movement, Journal of Asian American Studies Vol 13 No 3, 311-326 (2010): Overview of the origins of the contemporary Native Hawaiian Movements for land and sovereignty
Type: Articles in international or national refereed journals

Na Kua'aina: Living Hawaiian Culture (2007): Introduces the concept of cultural kipuka, the rural communities of Hawai'i where the kua'aina, longtime residents and keepers of traditional knowledge have perpetuated Kanaka 'Oiwi/Native Hawaiian cultural, subsistence and spiritual customs, beliefs and practices and 'olele makuahine/language.
Type: Historical Book of Original Scholarship
ISBN: 13:978-0-8248